I’ll not beat around the bush, I didn’t really like Madrid as much the other two Spanish cities I had visited earlier in the week. After Barcelona’s majestic architecture, and Valencia’s interesting old city area, Madrid did not seem to have anything that any other big city does not have. Paula met me at the […]
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Yesterday I bought a couple of items that would be invaluable for today. The white t-shirt was a bargain at 2 Euros, and the waterproof camera would be a very useful. We set off in good time for Bunol, about thirty kilometers from Valencia, and found a place to park the car, even though there […]
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Paula and I arrived in Valencia mid-afternoon on Monday, and found a baggage locker and left our rucksacs. We went for a wander around the older part of Valencia, which isn’t far from the station, and took a wander through the dry riverbed area around the old city. The river was diverted to avoid city […]
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After over twelve hours of train travel, broken by a wait of a couple of hours at the French/Spanish border, I arrived in Barcelona, and made my way to my friend Borja’s apartment. I met Borja about 8 years ago, when living in the UK. He came from Spain for the summer to improve his […]
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As I write this I am back on the road, or in this case, the tracks. I thought the journey from Nice to Barcelona would be pretty straightforward, but the cheapest flight I could find for today was over 350 Euros! The train fare was only 80 Euros, but involves a 12 hour journey, and […]
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I have been in France now for two weeks, staying in a French household, and living a French sort of lifestyle. This includes dipping bread in your coffee in the morning, eating quite a lot of cheese, and drinking plenty of red wine. I quite like it, but am still a bit hesitant about the […]
Continue readingToday was the second day of my paragliding course in Gourdon, in the south of France. I started first thing on Monday morning, along with five other French guys. Gourdon is another spectacular French village perched high on a clifftop with an incredible view overlooking Nice and the Mediterranean far below. This morning I arrived […]
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From Chamonix we drove through the Mont Blanc Tunnel, 17 kilometres long, and came out on the other side in Italy. Another amazing feat of construction! We arrived in Santa Margherita Ligure at about 5pm. I had imagined it would be a small quite fishing village nestled on the coast, with perhaps a few tourists […]
Continue readingYesterday I did two things quite similar to goals on my list, but not quite close enough to tick them off. I saw Mont Blanc – goal is to see Everest. Not quite – although it was still a magnificent sight. And I went on a luge ride – goal is to do a bobsleigh […]
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About five hours of driving took us to Chamonix, high in the French Alps. We soon found a campsite and got set up quickly and then headed into town for dinner. Returning later we just managed to get into the tent before the rain began! It rained most of the night, but the tent faired […]
Continue readingSince the last blog almost a week ago it’s been a pretty full week, with lots of activities and travel crammed in, and earlier today, the completion of the third goal, but more on that in the next blog. After the bungee jump we had a fairly relaxed day on the Monday, going to Saint […]
Continue readingWe got up pretty early yesterday and drove up into the mountains to the north west of Nice for about an hour and a half. The journey became more and more spectacular the higher we climbed. We passed through beautiful little French villages, and stopped at a boulangerie for fresh bread and croisants for breakfast. […]
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Bienvenue en France! J’arrive en France hier soir – I arrived in France yesterday evening, and within an hour was in the swimming pool at my friend’s mother’s house. The weather is beautiful here, hot and summery but without the draining humidity and dusty winds of Dubai. An hour or two later we were eating […]
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I only had about four hours to explore Istanbul, before having to head back to the airport, but managed to get the Metro into the city without any problem, and wandered around the Blue Mosque, which is huge. After that I crossed the road and went down into the The Basilica Cistern, which is fantastic. […]
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As I write this I am back in Dubai International Airport, laptop balanced on my knees, with several hours to go before my next flight, which takes me to Istanbul, arriving early tomorrow morning. I am really looking forward to seeing Istanbul, as I have never been before. After snowboarding yesterday I was met by […]
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Well, we’re off to a flying start, as the first goal has been completed successfully. Today I caught the bus out to Mall of the Emirates, where SkiDubai is situated. What an awesome place. After meeting my friend Mark from Perth at the entrance as planned, we had a quick chat, and he was off […]
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I flew into Dubai early this morning, and as the plane started it’s descent at about 5.30am local time, the pilot announced that the temperature was 38 degrees C already. I’m fairly used to hot weather, having worked in the mines in the north of Western Australia, but it was hot here today! Really hot! […]
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100 goals starts today. I have left the house in the hands of the real estate agent, and am now at a friend’s house for dinner before being dropped off at the airport in a couple of hours to catch my flight to Dubai. My first goal is scheduled to be achieved 2pm on Tuesday […]
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I have a credit card with the National Australia Bank (NAB), and recently I logged in to check my balance (it wasn’t too bad!), and was amazed to find this: Looks like there are a few of us thinking along the same lines. There are a few here I would like on my list! There […]
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